


Regarding the P-Word

by Slybrarian



Series: Always Bold [3]
Category: Generation Kill, Star Trek
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Canon-Typical Behavior, Fantastic Racism, Gen, Slurs, Space Marines, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:02:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24365494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slybrarian/pseuds/Slybrarian
Summary: In which the applicability of the word 'pinkskin' is discussed.
Series: Always Bold [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1498538
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020





	Regarding the P-Word

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "Racial Slurs" box on my [Banned Together Bingo card](https://slybrarian.dreamwidth.org/76058.html).

So there Ray was, doing his best to focus on his pre-mission reading and ignore all the bullshit going on around him. There was a war on and he was crammed into a troop bay with a hundred loudmouthed unwashed assholes but Starfleet's continuing education requirements waited for no one, least of all him with his two slave drivers breathing down his neck. Ray had appropriated a bean-bag chair and dragged it off to a relatively quiet word, 'relatively' being the operative phrase given that parts of Poke and Ray's teams were playing cards two feet away. There was a lot of swearing and insults being thrown around but at least they weren't shouting.

Then Ray heard someone drop the p-word and he sighed, knowing what was coming next. 

"The fuck did you just call me?" Poke demanded, loudly enough that half the compartment turned his direction, no doubt hoping for some free entertainment.

Across the table from him, sandwiched between Walt and Trombley, was one of their latest FNGs, some poor Andorian PFC who looked like she wanted to sprint for the door. Ray couldn't be bothered to remember her name yet, mostly just calling her New Gabe because it pissed off both her and Gabe. 

"An ignorant stalk licker?" she suggested hesitantly. 

"No. After that."

"Don't say it," Ray warned. 

"Grub fucker?"

"Just apologize for existing and go hide somewhere."

"Pinkskin?"

"Yeah," Poke growled. "That."

"What's wrong with that?" New Gabe protested. She pointed at the Tellarite next to Trombley. "You just called Corporal Gam 'bacon bits'!"

Beside her, Walt slowly shook his head, a mournful expression on his face. "Ray, I think we're going to need a new New Gabe."

Poke thrust out his fist across the table in a way that was only non-threatening because Ray knew that if Poke actually intended violence he wouldn't do so in a way that left him exposed. "Do I look fucking pink?"

"No, Sergeant," New Gabe said, apparently feeling much less sure about the lack of impending death. "You're more of a… taupe?"

" _Taupe?_ " Poke repeated. "You know what, I'm not going to argue about fucking shades with an alien who probably has fucked-up eyes. But since we definitely agree I'm not fucking pink, why the fuck did you call me that?"

"I don't know! It's just how it's always been. Captain Shran came up with it when he met you people."

Poke sat back and crossed his arms. "It's just fucking typical, isn't? The first human to command a deep space mission was some pasty middle-aged American man, and suddenly all eight billion humans get called pinkskins. My ancestors did not fight to maintain their cultural identity in the face of Anglo dominance for centuries just so aliens can declare we're all white."

A sane person would just nod and shut up at this point, but Andorians were a cranky and obstinate lot at the best of times, so New Gabe said, "I don't understand why your skin matters."

"Walt," Ray said, "please hit her for me."

"No," Walt said, the coward. 

"It matters," Poke said, "because it doesn't matter. Because most people have completely forgotten how Earth used to be, and that lets them ignore the fact that our culture and society is still based around the old imperial systems, just with the edges filed down and padded over. Let me tell you, Erica Hernandez was every bit as qualified as Archer, but he had a dick and his daddy knew the right people so he got to captain Enterprise, and now every brown person gets it thrown in our faces whenever we're around Andorians."

"The Emissary made a speech last year about the importance of cultural diversity," Lance Corporal Veda said. "I found his comments about your planet's history of ethnic strife and oppression very interesting."

"Oh, come on," Ray groaned. "This is getting old. You don't need to relate every single fucking thing that happens to some parable spouted by fucking Space Jesus."

"He's not your Jesus," she said. 

"Are you sure? You know how them black folk are about their old-time religion," Ray said while looking Poke right in the eye, because of they were going to do this shit then they were going to fucking do it. "Not that they've got anything on Catholics. They're all a bunch of heretic Pope-worshippers."

"Person, do not even start, or I will fucking strangle you, I don't care how annoyed Colbert would be."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm terrified. Look, the point here is that humans have a long history of being really shitty to each other, especially white dudes towards everyone else, and while it's all fun and games to throw around speciest slurs when the officers can't hear us, if you're not careful about them you're going to accidentally spark a race riot and get your prong-shaped skull caved in."

New Gabe frowned. "So does that mean it's fine if I look up... racially appropriate slurs?"

"Sure," Poke lied. 

"You probably shouldn't," Trombley offered. "One time he broke my knee sparring after I call him a sp-"

"Trombley," Ray shouted, "stop being a shit stirrer. And New Gabe, just ignore this motherfucker, and for the love of god don't go looking things up. You think this is bad, see what happens when someone calls Brad Aryan."

Fuck, Ray hated having to be the responsible adult.


End file.
